All Uhbiks do surround processing, up to 8 channels, including typical formats like quadraphonic, 5.1 and 7.1. The idea therein is, the surround modes work without any complicated user interface clutter and without need for dedicated versions (apart from some hosts that require dedicated stereo versions, that is). So while the handling of Uhbiks is strictly stereo, you gain the advantage of fully surroundish sound and control, way superior to the "multi mono" workarounds that some hosts offer. Options are included to keep Lfe or Center/Lfe unprocessed - so you're flexible all along.

I'd sold a piece of audio hardware a while ago that was collecting dust (Lexicon MPX-1) with the idea that I'd replace it with software. Many people here (of course) chimed in and yelled, 'Can't be done! Hardware is GOD!"

Well I dood it. I was in no rush so I fooled around with a lot of demos including the Soundtoys bundle and boy oh boy was I happy when Urs announced his prerelease deal on the Uhbik plug ins. They're a bundle that consists of a filter/fuzz, a few frequency modulators, a multitap delay, an EQ, and a "ambience" processor (I like to call 'em "reverb.)

They're fantastic. All of them. They're an awesome combination of great sound and character that's missing from so many effects in these modern "it'll do everything" times. The UIs are clear and frankly even if you're not a tweaker, they are all designed to let you easily edit and frankly just play with the knobs and rarely are you going to end up with something that doesn't sound great... however they're all capable of very extreme settings so my idea of great might be different than yours. Extreme FSU can happen, though most often they excel at the subtle stuff.

I'm not going to go into each plug (I just realized what time it was) but I will say that the EQ was a big surprise. Awesome. The "bride" preset after a bland Amplitube 2 preset made me weep tears of joy. Urs, what voodoo are you putting in these things? I'd like to refrain from using the word "warm" but I already did so there. The filter can be sweet or very nasty and does really well on guitar and drums. The phase modulator plugs all have unique little twists on the traditional chorus/phase/flange effects that although at first they might seem to cover similar ground, a bit of time with each and you'll realize the genus of each of them. Wiring up MIDI to the Phase control and manually changing it with a pedal resulted in insanely expressive control you won't find in most software or hardware.

So, basically the set isn't even done yet and the thing is so damn cheap that if you're reading this now and have not purchased them you are going to kick yourself if you miss the discount period. I do not miss my Lexicon at all and as far as I can tell Ubik equals and often has better character than the beloved hardware unit. The Soundtoys bundle still may be in my future, but frankly it's going to take a long time to exhaust the possibilities of Uhbik.Read more